It's interesting that the AWU scandal now plaguing Aussie PM Julia Gillard had its genesis in a sexual relationship that she had with alleged fraudster Bruce Wilson many years ago. If she did not have this relationship and her professional conduct had been exactly the same it seems unlikely that this scandal would have built up such a head of steam now.

Then there's the Craig Thomson affair, which is also in the news. That saga relates to his alleged use of union funds to procure services from prostitutes.

This kind of thing keeps happening the world over. It seems that at any given time there's at least one government being threatened by problems caused by the sex life of one or more of its members.

Clearly, sex and political power are inextricably linked. There's that great line from Henry Kissinger: "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." He meant that it was an aphrodisiac for women. But it seems to make men a lot more libidinous as well.

In the case of Julia Gillard the problem seems almost inverted. Her past sexual relations indirectly threaten her present authority.

In any case, that link is a two edge sword: Sex is always causing problems for the powerful!

One interesting feature of politics in this country has been the development of the Australian Sex Party. Obviously they are against censorship of adult oriented material. But they're certainly not a one issue party. They support abortion, euthanasia, and the decriminalization of drugs. Not surprisingly they have been quite controversial.

They tend to be treated as a bit of a sideshow by the mainstream media. And their reputation seems to have had something to do with their problems running Google ads in a recent election. In that case, Sex Party president Fiona Patten claimed that they were being treated very differently to the Greens.

They certainly do attract some colourful characters. Comedian Sandy Gutman (aka Austen Tayshus) ran as a candidate for them not so long ago.

Feminist porn star Zahra Stardust is the latest candidate. She's running for Lord Mayor of Sydney. She obviously won't win, but it will be interesting to she how she fares.

While many of the other candidates aren't as socially liberal as she is, they still share several of her policies. This is because Sydney's inner city is dominated by trendy left-leaning greenies. Conservative Christian types barely get a look in.